Glass Heart: The Ballad of Chance
by DregTheDarkAngel
Summary: Learn to laugh, live, and love, as Chanthalia "Chance" Worthington-Smythe finds her way in a complicated world where things are not always what they seem. Friends and enemies are right around the corner as a young girl learns to find her way through life.
1. Chapter 1

**The first day of school, the same as any other. My name is Chanthalia Worthington-Smythe. Yes, that Chanthalia Worthington-Smythe, daughter of Darwin Worthington and Violetta Smythe, the computer tycoons. Maybe it's a little egotistical of me to assume that you might know who I am, or even my parents. As far as business goes, they prefer to stay behind the scenes, manipulating every aspect of their empire through sycophant intermediaries. Including me. I didn't see my parents much growing up. They were always away on business. I've grown up with only my nanny, Shari, and my tutor, Bleu, for company. But now I start high school. Yes, I think it's fair to say this day will be like no other.**

**I sat thinking in the backseat of Shari's car as she drove me to school, my glittery blue bubble skirt pooled around me. I had my own car already, but Mom and Dad insisted I be driven around. It's nice that they think of me, but I just can't understand them sometimes. They're so hard to deal with and they make my life an utter mess. Most of the time, I wish I were a normal teenager. After hearing stories from Shari and Bleu about their school days, I'm terrified that I'll be ostracized for being too rich or too pretty (not that I think I am).**

**I opened the door, and took a deep breath.**

**"Don't you worry about a thing," said Shari, before taking a sip from her low fat frappucino and applying her lipstick. "You'll do great!"**

**"You have to say that," I moaned. I grabbed my backpack and got out of the car, aware of the momentary compression that made my breasts look even more cartoonishly large. I hate having large breasts. They make people stare at me and my bras are always too small.**

**I looked over the other kids walking through the main gate of the school. There was the usual mix, goths, preps, jocks. There were even some cute boys. I blushed and turned away when a group of them walked by. They would never like me. I was too thin, too tall, and way too clumsy. I breathed deeply and braced myself, walking towards the gates. "Bye honey!" Shari said, before speeding away in her black Escalade. I gave a week wave. School is going to be hell.**

**I was as nervous as was humanly possible. When I'm nervous, I tend to get a little... trigger happy. Or fan happy. I lived in Japan from ages 0 - 12, and my parents figured that, while I was there, I might as well get to know the local culture. In addition to learning Japanese, my parents bought me the best martial arts training that money can buy. As a gift for my black belt ceremony, my sensei gave me an pair of beautiful authentic tessen, or Japanese war fans. They are pearly blue, like my eyes. I carry them with me at all times, just to be safe.  
Though, at that moment, I wasn't very safe, at least to the others around me. I felt a presence behind me and whirled around while flicking open my fans. I heard a body hit the ground and I felt myself burn with embarrassment as I realized who I hit. He was a boy, but not just any boy. He was the cutest boy I'd ever seen! His copper brown hair was perfectly messy and his gold eyes were wide in confusion as he looked up at me. I hid my face demurely behind my fans and squeaked. I was so embarrassed.**

**He looked up at me, not with anger, but with a look I was pretty sure was astonishment.**

**"Wow! Great technique. I've never seen someone use a tessen like that," he said, jumping spryly to his feet. "That might even leave a mark."**

**I was mortified with myself. To nervous to speak, all I managed was a little "Eh... eh."**

**"What's your name?" He asked, smiling a golden smile right in my direction. "I'm Xander Brockport."**

**"Cha-Cha-Chanthalia. But you can call me Chance for short," I said, managing a tiny smile.**

**"Well, Chance, my dad and I run a martial arts studio. Why don't drop by some time? I could show you a few of my moves," he said. He smiled again, and I almost melted.**

**"Alright..." He walked to class. Wow.**

**I sat in homeroom, completely dazed. How could it be that they cutest boy in school could have smiled at me, at klutzy Chanthalia Worthington-Smythe? I was glowing, but nervous. Kids would talk about this, and if what I heard about high school was true, talking was never good. I brushed my silky, raven black hair out of my eyes and sighed. Only half an hour into high school and my life was already so difficult and complicated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I looked at the clock and was relieved the school day was almost over. It had been even worse than I imagined it would. All of the girls thought I was pretty and the boys couldn't stop flirting with me! I hated it. They were singling me out because I was too ethereal and too rich. As I walked into music class, I cursed my snowy, porcelain skin and big eyes, blue as the Caribbean sea. Sometimes I feel like I've been cursed.  
As I walked into music class, "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne began playing. Auditions were today! I had totally forgotten! Not that it mattered anyways. I was terrible at singing. I could sing when I was alone or in the shower, but when I got up on stage I just fell apart. I was too clumsy, I just know I would mess up. The first person to audition, a pretty blonde girl named Shirley, got up there and nailed it. Then the teacher read the second name... "CHANTHALIA WORTHINGTON-SMYTHE"!  
Oh no. All of the other kids looked expectantly at me. I pulled out one of my tessen and hid behind it. I could not do this, not in a million years. I looked over the top of my fan and saw Xander sitting at the back of the classroom, smiling. That made things even worse! "Chanthalia?" the teacher called again. I got up and sat behind the piano. At least if I played along, no one could tell how much I was blushing.  
I remembered what Shari and Bleu always told me: the music is inside my heart. And then I knew what I had to sing.**

_**Sick and tired of hearing  
All these people talk about  
What's the deal with this pop life  
And when is it gonna fade out  
The thing you got to realize  
What we doing is not a trend  
We got the gift of melody  
We gonna bring it till the end**_

**(lyrics copyright Dregthedarkangel 2012)  
I ducked down as I sang, trying to hid my face behind the piano. At the end of my song, the room was completely silent. I hid my face in my fans and felt like crying. Xander stood up and started clapping, and soon the whole room was standing, clapping and cheering. What were they doing? Didn't I sound terrible?  
Ms. Lillimaya walked over to me with huge smile on her young, alabaster face. She picked a bud from the roses in her hair and handed it to me.**

**"Chanthalia, I have never seen such an inspired performance," she said, brushing tears from her eyes. "You are the new, official, Queen of the Qorus!"**

**Suddenly, the girl who went before me, Tiffany, ran towards us. "WHAT! SHE CAN'T BE QUEEN! SHE'S JUST A PALE, BLUE EYED FREAK!"**

**I think I heard Ms. Lillimaya chastise Amber as I ran from the room, hoping that Xander wouldn't see me cry behind my tessen.**

**I sat on the front step of the school and cried. This was awful. I would have to go back to being home-schooled after this. Mom and Dad would be so disappointed. My sister would be too, except. . . .**

**"Hey Chance!" Xander came up to me and I hid again. This was too embarrassing. "You dropped your flower!"**

**"Thanks," I mumbled, taking the small bud.  
"Don't mind Courtney," he said, sitting beside me. "She's always mean to the pretty girls."  
What did he mean by that?**

**Instead of asking, I just gave a little laugh. It was better to laugh then to speak when you're a girl, Shari always told me. She was usually right about these sort of things, so I decided to heed her advice.**

**"I've never met anyone like you," said Xander. I giggled again, and began fanning myself with my fan, which I had with me. He leaned in close to me...**

**"And how was your first day of school?" It was Shari, parked right behind me in her Escalade. I retrieved my fans from my purse reflexively and began fanning myself with them. "Well, don't just stand there! Tell me about it?"**

**"Umm... bye Xander..." I said, moving in a few fluid motions into Shari's Escalade.**

**Shari gave Xander a hungry look before speeding us back home.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Xander had invited me over to his dojo for six. I was so nervous! I spent extra time applying my makeup, even though my naturally luminescent complexion didn´t need it anyway. I used my "Foxy Girl" eyeshadow; the kind with lots of glitter that made my indigo eyes sparkle, and coral blush that made my sculpted, high cheekbones look like the graceful buttresses of the Notre Dame.**

**If I had learned anything from dear, sweet Shari, it was to dress for success. And if I wanted to succeed at the dojo, I would have to return to my roots: Japan. I had an idea, the neurons in my frontal cortex firing in sequence, each going off like synchronized fireworks to make the Fourth of July that was my life go as smoothly as possible. For my 10****th**** birthday, Shari got me a low cut Chun Li outfit, which is pretty standard issue for girls in Japan. Shari always said that if I got it, flaunt it. She did the flaunting for me, trimming all my clothes several inches shorter than they were when we got them. As I looked over my Chun Li outfit, I thought that it would be better if I didn't wear any undergarments. The outfit was tight enough to keep all of my nethers where they should be. For shoes, once again, I decided to go with the practical: a pair of high heeled Prada combat boots. Shari got them for me in case I decided to go into the Navy Seals. Looking at myself, I was proud. My breasts looked like taught cantaloupes, as if my chest was pregnant. My figure was lithe and fluid, sensuous feminine lines running from head to toe. I blew my hair out of my face. I hadn't done much to it; I just put it up in a messy bun. Its color and texture reminded me of the earthen tombs of old. I looked just good enough to avoid embarrassment. **

**I hobbled down the stairs with my 10-inch high heels. What was I doing? Xander would never like me! I was like a lost dove, languid in the torrents of the vicious sea of emotion that was love. The world was not my oyster! What was there for me, plain, boring, **_**Chanthalia Worthington**_**-Smythe. **

**I saw Bleu walk in the front door. He was wearing clothes. They matched the curtains. Gliding fluidly down the stairs, I threw myself at his feet. **

"**Oh, Bleu!" I said, wiping tears away from the glossy aquamarine waterfalls that were my photoreceptors. "It's terrible! Xander wants me to visit him at his dojo! But I'm not good enough for Xander! Just look at me!" I collapsed, allowing the sobs resonate within my fragile, feminine body. **

**Bleu was gay, and he had the gay man's instinct, alright. "Oh, Chancey, you trouble me so. I just walked in the door from two weeks on Fire Island and this how you great me!" He was stern, but when he looked down at my velvety lilac eyes, he just couldn't stay furious. **

"**I'm sorry…" I automatically reverted like an automaton to my baby voice, praying for clemency towards a man who represented my redemption.**

"**Chanthaliana, what's wrong?" He asked, his lisps spinning luscious silk from the words that he just said that time. **

"**Well, there's this boy. Xander. And he's the cutest boy in school. He's handsome and hunky and sexy and has a big penis and he's pretty much the most perfect guy ever. I just met him today. He invited me over to his dojo and he wants to spar with me! To spar! I'm not ready to go that far, Bleu! Bleu, you represent my redemption, my clemency, the passport to all that is good or could be in the gurgling maelstrom that is my life! Help me!" **

**Bleu had the look of a mother in his eyes as he looked at me. I looked back. "Oh, Chanthy, just believe in yourself. I want you to go to Xander, look into the lustrous viridian profundities of his eyes, and kiss him right on the mouth. Do you hear me?"**

"**Yes, Bleu…" I hated when he got angry. "Can you drive me to his dojo now?"**

"**What else am I for?" He said jokingly. He liked to pretend that he was our slave. He found it funny, but the whole shtick could get a little creepy sometimes, because sometimes it seemed like his interest in slavery was more than joking. One time, after my dad hit him for teaching me evolution (AN: If you think about it, there is no valid scientific basis for evolution. Get the facts, guys: creationism**.**org**) **I found him rubbing himself in the bathroom and looking at a picture of a bunch of slaves being whipped an old Southern plantation. Since then, I have suspected he was racist. **

**A few minutes later, we** **pulled into the parking lot f Xander's dojo. It was in the middle of a verdant field, frothing with wildflowers. The rice paper walls and bamboo frames reminded me of my old childhood dojo in Kyoto. I took a deep breath, my breasts swelling in my Chin Li outfit like ripe pummelos. "Go get 'em, honey," Bleu grinned. **

"**Okay" I sighed sulkily, and slid from the passenger's seat of Bleu's powder blue Mini Cooper. **

**I walked up the sun-kissed dirt path up to the front door. When I opened it, I noticed it was chocked full of veritable warriors to be, each seething with frothing bloodlust, and eager to prove themselves. They turned toward me, giving me a collective stare that could shatter bones.**

**But not mine.**

**I beckoned them with a porcelain-like, graceful hand. They charged. The first was a brutish boy. He was large. I kicked him so hard in the jaw that I heard a horrible cracking sound, as if his jaw had been broken. It had. My kick had caused his teeth to cleave clean through his tongue and get lodged in the roof of his mouth. I then picked him up with a dainty arm, and punched him in the mouth so hard that he swallowed his teeth. Amateur. The next in line was a buck-toothed broad. She sneered at me and got into a fighting stance. But my feline reflexes were too fast for her. She didn't even register that I had twisted one of her blonde pigtails around her pasty gullet until it was too late. The sound of fracturing vertebrae rented the air and she fell like a fleshy rag doll on the floor on top of the first aggressor.**

**The rest came at me with no mercy, but just as they showed me no mercy, I, too, would show them very little mercy, if none at all. Bleu watched from the window, his lips curling like coral tendrils into an encouraging smile. I blew a kiss back at him, which he caught with one of his hands, as I whipped out my tessen. **_**Bring it on.**_

**The battle was like a dance, the pulse and rhythm of each successful blow not unlike the unchaste gyrations of a night club. **_**Dodge. Strike. Punch. Kick. Spit. **_**Soon the room of bloodthirsty warriors to be was just a pile of groaning lumps, the smell of burning flesh rife within the air. These guys were wimps. My sister always made sure that I could handle any opponent I fought. She, unlike these veritable wimps, was not a veritable wimp. **

**Suddenly, I heard someone behind me, clapping slowly. Thinking it was an opponent that had escaped my wrath, I drew my tessen in front of my face and pivoted with the deftness and grace of a ballet dancer. But it wasn't an opponent; it was Xander! He was even cuter than I remembered. He wasn't wearing the traditional ghee, or "fighting shirt". In fact, he wasn't wearing a shirt at all. My eyes were drawn to his well-muscled torso; his taut pectorals adorned only with two lavish participles, gleaming like silver in the light of the cold, pale moon. A fine misting of sweat gave his golden- brown skin a dewy, opalescent quality. I longed to replace his sweat with the saliva from my tongue. In my mouth. The sinuous slopes of his body were, to me, like the unravaged sands of an Egyptian desert. I wanted to explore these uncharted territories. His thighs, which showed through his pants which he was wearing on his legs, were meaty and satisfying. I looked up, afraid of what he might think of my visually devouring him. But his eyes were smoldering with what may have possibly been passion. **


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was setting

As she tore through the white belts

Glorious Chun-Li

A course and cool wind

was swirling over my pecs

Sound of broken jaws

What girl did I see

A vision of love and breasts

fighting before me

I rose to meet her

(If you know what I mean, lol)

And I drew my sword

A battle of blades

Sword crossed fan, fan crossed sword and

no one fell dead. . . .yet

Her beauty was great

Blinding, if I do say so

Could she be mine? No

Someone so perfect

Unflawed skin, white like snowy tears

Voice of an angel

So I fought that girl

Also I fought myself too

Fighting a great lie

I would never be

good enough for her even

if I was the best

I cried a single

crystal tear of great sorrow

Hiding it like shame

And in that moment

I hated her, what she did

to me, to my dreams

I was to be a

A great warrior a savior

Now all I wanted

Was her. her striking

sent me falling to the

ground, gasping with pain

She had defeated

me, but I already lost

the battle long ago


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Backstory time! I really tried to capture the essence of Chanthalia's sister, and what she felt at the time of her untimely demise time of. Constructive criticism will be much appreciated.**

**The startling rays of the Egyptian sun delved guilefully into the forbidden cleft of one Jaqinthia Belle Worthington-Smythe's buxom knockers. She breathed it all in.**

_**This is it. I've arrived. **_**For months, she had trekked the Nile's unforgiving pastures, until she arrived lustrously at its peak. **_**This is what I've been waiting for. All my life.**_

**They said she wouldn't be able to do it. Her family staged an intervention, her own father throwing himself at her feet and wailing, "My baby girl wants to travel through the savage lands!" **

**But Jaqinthia didn't listen.**

**If she had one regret, it was that she left her sister behind. Her beautiful sister, who would need all the guidance in the world if she were to fulfill her potential as the new Starmaid: Queen of Night. But then again, her sister was tough. She would be able to duke it out and fulfill her potential as the new Starmaid: Queen of Night. Just as the Doctor had intended. What doctor? A better question would be….**

**Who.**

**But enough about her queer little sister. Jaqinthia lent enough of her time to that flat chested monstrosity. A miasma of rage filled her head as she thought of her sister. But it passed.**

**Jaqinthia stood atop the Great Sphinx of Giza. She had been standing there, admiring the view, for the last 15 minutes as her tour guide caught up with her. Ali Babba wasn't much of a tour guide, but he was great at certain other… **_**nighttime**_** activities, such as fly fishing, and making campfires. He was also excellent at sex. He used his greasy man totem to full effect, exploring her deep ocean trench like Bob Ballard would explore a deep ocean trench. He had her going steady doggy style, or, rather ape style for almost 5 minutes, until he collapsed onto her like a dying star of lust and passion. Jaqinthia knew Bleu, her sister´s gay bff, had a thing for primitives, and she could see why. Her horse- no, hippotatopotamus, no, BELUGA WHALE hung lover had made a journey that all was sure would break her very bearable. His pillar of man meat had become her pillar of strength. Her other pillar of strength was Jesus. **

_**PATER noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.**___

**(Translation copyright DregtheDarkAngel 2012)**__

**Jaqinthia knew that life was short, destined to be extinguished like a candle in a sea of rain. As much as she appreciated Ali Babba, she would rather not wait around. Whirling her grappling hook around and aiming it at the nearest tree, she swung to the top of the Great Pyramid, landing with a pivot at the very top, like a magenta angle atop the freshest of viridian Christmas evergreens.**

**The view from up here was amazing. King Tut certainly knew how to build a good tomb. She wished her father´s company would finish constructing the viewing platform - Wait, what was Ali Babba doing down there! He had changed out of his primitive loin cloth, into a turban! He was Al-Qaeda! **

**She should have suspected this. The betrayal was shocking. She had given him her everything, her love, her respect, her virginity. How could he do this! Had he no feelings? She cursed the Mohammedans with everything she was worth. **

**He brandished a rather large, sweaty, AK-47. The fool. If he thought he could hit her with that clumsy French piece of crap, he wish wrong. Jaqinthia leapt in a graceful arc back to the Great Sphinx, narrowly avoiding every bullet with impeccable grace. Ali Babba cried in mortal terror, like a swan, singing its last song, but not quite accepting its inevitable fate, languid in its own denial, destined to drown in a foul concoction of its own stupid ignorance. For the sake of what they shared, Jaqinthia would make this quick. Grabbing him by the scalp, she took out the serrated combat knife Shari had given her in case she ever wanted to join the Navy Seals, and plunged it straight into his filthy Egyptian throat. Everywhere the blood flowed, spraying like a fine mist. She lapped it up. Jaqinthia gave him one last kiss before pushing him in a graceful arc off the Great Sphinx.**

**Well, time to blow this fascist popsickle stand. She leapt in a graceful arc to the base of the Great Sphinx. She hoped Ali Babba hadn't had the time to report her location to the rest of his heathen camel jockey brethren before she grabbed him by the scalp, took out the serrated combat knife Shari had given her in case she ever wanted to join the Navy Seals, and plunged it straight into his filthy Egyptian throat. No, she didn't see any sort of communication contraption on his filthy Egyptian corpse. Time to run before someone notices – **

**When she looked up, she was surrounded. Five Al-Qaedonians looked at her with lust for murder, and perhaps a bit **_**more**_** evident in there limpid green eyes. They fired their standard issue Al-Qaedonian AK-47s in harmonic unison, the bullets penetrating her delicate body like lead phalluses, tearing apart everything she was, is, or destined to be. **

_**If I can stop one heart from breaking,**__**  
**__**I shall not live in vain;**__**  
**__**If I can ease one life the aching,**__**  
**__**Or cool one pain,**__**  
**__**Or help one fainting robin**__**  
**__**Unto his nest again,**__**  
**__**I shall not live in vain.**___

**(Poem copyright DregtheDarkAngel 2012)**


	6. Chapter 6

"**Hey lovers!" It was Shari! Shari was Chance's nanny, her replacement mom. Chance's real mom, a famous fashion designer and neurosurgeon, was hardly ever around. **

**Heh. Chance. Such a perfect name for such a perfect girl. I'd taken a chance falling in love with her… now I just hoped she'd take a chance on me. **

**If you change your mind, I'm the first in line****  
****Honey I'm still free****  
****Take a chance on me**

**Her finely tapered triple D sized breasts bobbed bashfully within her silky fuchsia kimono. They had an undulating quality, vibrating in perfect unison with the music of the club. She was providing the music, her amazing voice filling the bar with her amazing voice, as God filled the Earth with water to kill the sinners and the dinosaurs. She was killing me like a good American, that was for gosh-fucking sure. And by killing, I mean boner. Boner is slang for erection where I come from. Hehehe, cum. Cum is a colloquial term for semen in much of the English speaking world, a term propagated by the growing pornographic industry over the Internet. **

**If you need me, let me know, gonna be around****  
****If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down****  
****If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown**

**By the looks of it, Chance had recently gotten a haircut. We talked about it as we picked up the limp bodies of the white belts (don't worry, they will be okay eventually). She wanted to get a haircut so that she could look like Surie Cruise, Tom Cruise's wife. Surie and Tom are in the middle of a terrible divorce. I've heard that it is because of Scientology that that is the reason why that they are getting divorced that. ****Scientology** **is a****body of beliefs and related practices****created by****L. Ron Hubbard****(1911–1986), starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier****self-help****system,****Dianetics****.****Hubbard characterized Scientology as a****religion****, and in 1953 incorporated the****Church of Scientology****in****Camden, New Jersey****. **

**Scientology teaches that people are****immortal beings****who have forgotten their true nature.****Its method of spiritual****rehabilitation****is a type of counselling known as**_**auditing**_**, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects.****Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations.****Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States and some other countries,****and the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion.****In other countries, notably ****Canada****,****France****,****Germany****, and the****United Kingdom****, Scientology does not have comparable religious status.**

**A large number of organizations overseeing the application of Scientology have been established,****the most notable of these being the Church of Scientology. Scientology sponsors a variety of social-service programs.**** These include the****Narconon****anti-drug program, the****Criminon****prison rehabilitation program, the ****Study Tech****education methodology, a****volunteer organization****,****a business-management method****, and a set of moral guidelines expressed in a booklet called**_**The Way to Happiness**_**. **

**The Church of Scientology is one of the most controversial****new religious movements****to have arisen in the 20th century. It has often been described as a****cult****that financially defrauds and abuses its members, charging exorbitant fees for its spiritual services.****The Church of Scientology has consistently used****litigation**** against such critics, and its aggressiveness in pursuing its foes has been condemned as harassment. Further controversy has focused on Scientology's belief that souls ("thetans")****reincarnate****and have lived on other planets before living on Earth,****and that some of the related teachings are not revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the Church of Scientology.****Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is that the practice of****psychiatry****is****destructive and abusive****and must be abolished.**

**Honey I'm still free****  
****Take a chance on me****  
****Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie****  
****If you put me to the test, if you let me try**

**Shari was almost as hot as Chanthalia. ****Her finely tapered triple D sized breasts bobbed bashfully within her silky fuchsia kimono. They had an undulating quality, vibrating in perfect unison with the music of the club. She was providing the music, her amazing voice filling the bar with her amazing voice, as God filled the Earth with water to kill the sinners and the dinosaurs. She was killing me like a good American, that was for gosh-fucking sure. And by killing, I mean boner. Boner is slang for erection where I come from. Hehehe, cum. Cum is a colloquial term for semen in much of the English speaking world, a term propagated by the growing pornographic industry over the Internet. **

**In 1952, Hubbard built on the existing framework set forth in**_**Dianetics**_**, and published a new set of teachings as**_**Scientology, a religious philosophy.**_**In December 1953, Hubbard incorporated three churches – a "Church of American Science", a "Church of Scientology" and a "Church of Spiritual Engineering" – in****Camden, New Jersey****.****On February 18, 1954, with Hubbard's blessing, some of his followers set up the first local Church of Scientology, the Church of Scientology of California, adopting the "aims, purposes, principles and creed of the Church of American Science, as founded by L. Ron Hubbard."****The movement spread quickly through the United States and to other English-speaking countries such as Britain, Ireland, South Africa and Australia.****The second local Church of Scientology to be set up, after the one in California, was in****Auckland, New Zealand****.****In 1955, Hubbard established the****Founding Church of Scientology****in****Washington, D.C.****In 1957, the Church of Scientology of California was granted tax-exempt status by the United States****Internal Revenue Service****(IRS), and so, for a time, were other local churches.****In 1958 however, the IRS started a review of the appropriateness of this status. In 1959, Hubbard moved to England, remaining there until the mid-1960s.**

**The Church experienced further challenges. The United States****Food and Drug Administration****(FDA) began an investigation concerning the claims the Church of Scientology made in connection with its E-meters.****On January 4, 1963, they raided offices of the Church of Scientology and seized hundreds of E-meters as illegal medical devices. The devices have since been required to carry a disclaimer saying that they are a purely religious artifact.**

**In the mid-sixties, the Church of Scientology was banned in several Australian states, starting with****Victoria****in 1965.****[54]****The ban was based on the****Anderson Report****, which found that the auditing process involved "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the patient. On this point the report stated,**

**It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetic techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous ... the scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute ... leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology. Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names.****[55]**

**The Australian Church was forced to operate under the name of the "Church of the New Faith" as a result, the name and practice of Scientology having become illegal in the relevant states.****[54]****Several years of court proceedings aimed at overturning the ban followed.****[54]**

**In the course of developing Scientology, Hubbard presented rapidly changing teachings that were often self-contradictory.****[56][57]****For the inner cadre of Scientologists in that period, involvement depended not so much on belief in a particular doctrine but on unquestioning faith in Hubbard.****[56]****In 1966, Hubbard stepped down as executive director of Scientology to devote himself to research and writing.****[41][58]****The following year, he formed the Sea Organization or****Sea Org****, which was to develop into an elite group within Scientology.****[41][59]****The Sea Org was based on three ships, the**_**Diana**_**, the**_**Athena**_**, and the**_**Apollo**_**, which served as the flag ship.****[59]****One month after the establishment of the Sea Org, Hubbard announced that he had made a breakthrough discovery, the result of which were the "OT III" materials purporting to provide a method for overcoming factors inhibiting spiritual progress.****[59]****These materials were first disseminated on the ships, and then propagated by Sea Org members reassigned to staff Advanced Organizations on land.****[59]**

**In 1967, the IRS removed Scientology's tax-exempt status, asserting that its activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard, rather than for charitable or religious purposes.****[52]****The decision resulted in a process of litigation that would be settled in the Church's favour a quarter of a century later, the longest case of litigation in IRS history.****[42]**

**In 1979, as a result of FBI raids during****Operation Snow White****, eleven senior people in the church's Guardian's Office were convicted of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. In 1981, Scientology took the German government to court for the first time.****[60]**

**On January 1, 1982, Scientology established the****Religious Technology Center****(RTC) to oversee and ensure the standard application of Scientology technology.****[61]**

**On November 11, 1982, the****Free Zone****was established by former top Scientologists in disagreement with RTC.****[62]****The Free Zone Association was founded and registered under the laws of Germany, and believes that the Church of Scientology has departed from its original philosophy.****[63]**

**In 1983, in a unanimous decision, the****High Court of Australia****recognized Scientology as a religion in Australia, overturning restrictions that had limited activities of the church after the Anderson Report.****[64]**

**On January 24, 1986, L. Ron Hubbard died at his ranch near****San Luis Obispo, California****, and****David Miscavige****became the head of the organization.**

**Starting in 1991, persons connected with Scientology filed fifty lawsuits against the****Cult Awareness Network****(CAN), a group that had been critical of Scientology.****[65]****Although many of the suits were dismissed, one of the suits filed against the Cult Awareness Network resulted in $2 million in losses for the network.****[65]****Consequently, the organization was forced to go bankrupt.****[65]****In 1996, Steven L. Hayes, a Scientologist, purchased the bankrupt Cult Awareness Network's logo and appurtenances.****[65][66]****A new Cult Awareness Network was set up with Scientology backing, which operates as an information and networking center for non-traditional religions, referring callers to academics and other experts.****[67][68]**

**In a 1993 U.S. lawsuit brought by the Church of Scientology against Steven Fishman, a former member of the Church,****Fishman made a court declaration****which included several dozen pages of formerly secret****esoterica****detailing aspects of Scientologist****cosmogony****.****[69]****As a result of the litigation, this material, normally strictly safeguarded and only used in Scientology's more advanced "OT levels", found its way onto the Internet.****[69]****This resulted in a battle between the Church of Scientology and its online critics over the right to disclose this material, or safeguard its confidentiality.****[69]****The Church of Scientology was forced to issue a press release acknowledging the existence of this cosmogony, rather than allow its critics "to distort and misuse this information for their own purposes."****[69]****Even so, the material, notably the story of****Xenu****, has since been widely disseminated and used to caricature Scientology, despite the Church's vigorous program of copyright litigation.****[69]**

Take a chance on me  
(That's all I ask of you honey)  
Take a chance on me

We can go dancing, we can go walking, as long as we're together  
Listen to some music, maybe just talking, get to know you better  
'Cos you know I've got  
So much that I wanna do, when I dream I'm alone with you  
It's magic  
You want me to leave it there, afraid of a love affair  
But I think you know  
That I can't let go

If you change your mind, I'm the first in line  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me  
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around  
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down  
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me  
Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie  
If you put me to the test, if you let me try

Take a chance on me  
(Come on, give me a break will you?)  
Take a chance on me  
Oh you can take your time baby, I'm in no hurry, know I'm gonna get you  
You don't wanna hurt me, baby don't worry, I ain't gonna let you  
Let me tell you now  
My love is strong enough to last when things are rough  
It's magic  
You say that I waste my time but I can't get you off my mind  
No I can't let go  
'Cos I love you so

Scientology literature states that L. Ron Hubbard demonstrated his professional expertise in hypnosis by "discovering" the Dianetic engram. Hubbard was said to be an accomplished hypnotist, and close acquaintances such as Forrest Ackerman (Hubbard's literary agent) and A. E. van Vogt (an early supporter of Dianetics) witnessed repeated demonstrations of his hypnotic skills.

If you change your mind, I'm the first in line  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me  
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around  
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down  
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me  
Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see  
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me  
(Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me)

Ba ba ba ba baa, ba ba ba ba baa  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me  
Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see  
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me  
(Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me)

Ba ba ba ba baa, ba ba ba ba baa ba-ba  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me


End file.
